The article makes no mention of any liability Libby may have for improperly disclosing that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. It's just the cover-up. By denying he was a "political hatchet man" and maintaining he was acting from his own principles, Libby's team is signaling that Libby will maintain that no one, including his boss Dick Cheney, instructed him to discredit Wilson or out his wife.
This article leads me to believe that Libby already has cut his deal with Fitzgerald and will plead to a false statement, perjury and/or obstruction of justice charge, in exchange for not being charged with an offense regarding leaking classified information or conspiring to do so.
If Wurmser and Hannah have, as reported, cooperated, I doubt Libby has any chance of escaping Indictment. If Karl Rove, as I suspect, drove the final nail in Libby's coffin during his four and one-half hour testimony ten days ago, I think Libby has no choice but to fall on his sword for Cheney and plead guilty.
He may fall on his sword by saying that Cheney directed him, using the White House Iraq Group, to discredit Wilson's findings from his Niger trip, but that Cheney never said anything about discrediting Wilson personally or outing his wife. Libby may say that the plan to discredit Wilson by alleging nepotism through his wife was his idea, perhaps formulated with information from David Wurmser or John Hannah or someone else who also has decided to cooperate. He may say he didn't discuss with Cheney the mechanics of the plan -- calling reporters to tell them about Wilson's wife.
As to Rove, I think the pieces of the jig-saw puzzle began falling into place with the New York Daily News article reporting that Bush was angry at Rove for the clumsy way the attack on Joseph Wilson was handled.
An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News. "He made his displeasure known to Karl," a presidential counselor told The News. "He made his life miserable about this."
I don't think the point of this revelation was to imply that Bush lied when he said he didn't know who was behind the Plame Leak or that he'd fire that person if he found out he worked in his Administration. The point was to spare Bush from being linked to advance knowledge of the plan - and to allow Rove to 'fess up while protecting the President.
Now here's a question: How possible is it that Rove's cooperation bought him a complete pass, and among the chief honchos, Libby is left to take the fall alone?
